Teenage Romance Novels

Almost all middle school girls have a weakness for a good love story, and I am trying to find some new authors to include in our collection. However, over the past few weeks I have learned that there is a fine line between teenage romance and adult romance novels, often the authors of these novels will write for both audiences, and the publishers do not warn you which category they fall into!

For example, The Season, by Sarah MacLean (AR 6.2/13.0) is a great love story intertwined with an exciting murder mystery. It is interesting and fast paced and totally age appropriate.  The main character, a 17 year old girl, hates the balls , ball gown fittings, and dinner parties of London society. She and her friends long for more adventure. When the Earl of Blackmoor mysteriously dies, Alex is determined to help is son, the handsome, yet distant, Gavin solve the crime. We have all read enough books and seen enough movies to know where this is going... Totally predictable, but thoroughly entertaining, and most importantly, age appropriate! Sarah MacLean's other books- so not age appropriate. I have one. I was embarrassed reading it. (I had to finish. I am not someone who can just stop mid-book. I'm sure many of you have heard my rant on The Graveyard Book by Nail Gaimen.) Needless to say this book will not be in the library.

Anything by Meg Cabot is probably fast-paced, witty, and highly entertaining. However, some of her books, even those classified as young adult, often border on unsuitable for most teenagers. She does have many good books. For example, the Airhead series is good for 7th and up. The first few in The Princess Diaries series are also good. The ones later in the series, as Princess Mia turns into a young woman,  are definitely for older readers. She also has several adult books written in email/text message format that are very funny. The Boy Next Door and Every Boy's Got One are both clean content wise for 7th and up, but they do have some language in them.

Last night I just finished To Catch a Pirate by Jade Parker (AR 4.7/6.0). I have to admit that even though it was a suggested book from the book reviews, the title scared me a little. It sounded a little bit like a **ROMANCE** novel, not just a romance novel. I was terrified of another Sarah MacLean incident (see above!) Surprisingly , it was actually a very appropriate book.  Annalisa leaves London with her father who is commissioned from the King to set up a port and town on a small island in the Caribbean.  On the way the ship is attacked by Crimson Kelley and his pirates and the money for to start the town stolen. Her father is imprisoned under suspicion of plotting with the pirates to steal the money. Annalisa sets sail to capture the pirates and clear her father's name. Along the way she meets a pirate that has recently been marooned from Crimson's ship. He agrees to help her track him down. Again, you can totally see where this is going, but overall, it was a good story.

Last night I started Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund. She is the author of Aurelia (AR 5.8/9.0). It's a book we haven't had very long, but all the girls who have read it have really liked it.  Aurelia is next in line for the throne, but someone is trying to murder her.  Robert, the son of the King's royal spy, tries to solve the mystery.  These teenage romances are all so easy to figure out, but they are worth the read. Back to Academy 7. I'm only about 10 pages in, but this book seems to be the exact opposite of Aurelia. It is set in a futuristic society. We'll see if it proves to be as good as the other.

Belle of the Brawl

I just finished Belle of the Brawl (Alpha's #3) by Lisi Harrison (AR 6.2/7.0). It was a little bit on the slow side at first, but it did get better. Fans of the series will definitely still enjoy it. You can tell that the series is winding down. Charlie is on a mission to win back Darwin, while still trying to keep her classwork first. Allie finally figures out her strength and starts to feel like a true alpha. By the end of the book, the Alpha Academy is down to the final 33 girls. In fact, not all of the Jackie O. house is safe... Book 4, scheduled to come out later this year, will be the last!

What I read over Thanksgiving Break

I didn't get a chance to read that much over the break. I'm a little disappointed because I have a huge stack of books at home that I was sure I would have time to read. Oh well! Here's an overview of the ones I did get to read:
Into the Gauntlet: 39 Clues #10- by Margaret Peterson Haddix-  This was the last book in the series and it didn't disappoint. I was full of action and adventure just like the others. I won't spoil it for you, but the ending was a little bit far-fetched for me. You can definitely tell that they are setting up for another series.  AR: 4.6/9.0
Athena the Brain- by Holub, Joan- This is the first book in the new Goddess Girl series. It was easy to read and would be a great book for girls who are interested in the Lightning Thief series, especially for those who find them a little difficult to read independently. AR: 4.5/3.0
Princess of the Midnight Ball- by George, Jessica Day- This book is for lovers of princess stories with a twist of magic! I really enjoyed this book even though I tend to shy away from books with too much "magic". I was a good fast paced story that had both action and romance. I probably won't be suggesting this to any guys, but I think the girls will love it! AR 5.6/10.0

Currently reading: Belle of the Brawl: Alphas #3- by Lisi Harrison- I enjoyed the first two Alpha's books, but I am not really liking this one as much. I'm about half way through and am hoping it gets better.

On another note- I just ordered a Nook for myself and am going to "test the waters" before looking into ordering some for the school. If anyone has any ideas or information to share I'd love to hear from you!

Write reviews for books!

BMS students can use the check-out system to write reviews for books and make recommendations to friends. To begin, log on to the middle school site at destiny.bremencs.com using your lunch ID as your username and password.

Great Website for Guys Books

www.guysread.com is a wonderful website to find tips, ideas, and books to encourage boys to read. There are tons of resources there!

5th Grade

Over the next week or so, 5th grade science classes will be completing their animal research papers. Students- be sure you are using reliable sources. As always, a good place to start is with the research sites link to the right. From there click on Animal Research and you will see a list of reliable internet sources.

BOOK FAIR A HUGE SUCCESS

The 5th-8th grade Scholastic Book Fair was a huge success. We sold over $5000 in books and the Media Center receives 60% of sales! That's a lot of new books!

If you saw a book in the Book Fair that you were not able to purchase, check the library search stations to see if the media center purchased it.

Upcoming: Book Fair

The Book Fair for 5th-8th graders will be September 13-17th. We should have some exciting titles including Mocking Jay, the newest in the 39 Clues series, and the Clique series. We will have tons of great books to pick from all at great prices. Don't worry 4th grade! Your fair is in February.

We are in need of parent volunteers to help the week of the 13th. Please email or call Mrs. Wilson. chloe.wilson@bremencs.com or 770-537-4874.

Welcome Back!

We are back into the full swing of things in the media center. We have so many great new books I can't even begin to list them all. One new series worth noting is the Poison Apple series. It's from the creators of the Candy Apple series. We also got several new Will Hobbs and Roland Smith books for the boys. And I can't tell you how excited I am about the third Hunger Games book, Mocking Jay, that comes out on the 24th. I already have a HUGE waiting list for that one.

Ready for the new school year!

It's almost time for the new school year to begin and I am so excited! I have spent the summer reading the 2010-2011 Georgia Book Award nominees. There are some really great books this year. Be sure to come by and check them out!

Summer Reading

Summer is here and it's time to relax, but not time to let our reading skills slip. Studies show that reading just a few books each summer keeps students from losing ground over the break. Visit Scholastic some great ideas for summer reading. http://printables.scholastic.com/printables/detail/?id=42275

Georgia Children's Book Award

It is time to vote for your favorite GCBA book. If you have read three of the titles you can vote for your favorite this week. All votes are due Friday. A winner will be selected for the ENTIRE state.

Cool New Cameras!

We just recieved 4 new Sony Webbie cameras for the Media Center. These cameras can be checked out to complete school projects! Funds for this purchase came from the Bright Ideas grant. This grant is sponsored by Carroll EMC. Thank you so much!